


In Sickness and in Health

by MarvelousMusings



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hospitalization, I'm Bad At Tagging, Not Canon Compliant, Protective Ana Jarvis, Stubborn Edwin Jarvis, definitely not medically accurate, health scare, probably a mixture of too much booze and a couple episodes of grey's anatomy tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 11:28:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22248754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelousMusings/pseuds/MarvelousMusings
Summary: Even falling gravely ill isn't enough to keep Edwin Jarvis from his duties, until it is.
Relationships: Ana Jarvis/Edwin Jarvis
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	In Sickness and in Health

**Author's Note:**

> I was searching through an old computer the other day and found this fic from 2016. I figured it might be fun to share, since I clearly forgot to back then. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this angsty mess from the depths of my old hard drive.
> 
> As always, comments and kudos feed the writer brain. <3

Ana and Edwin Jarvis very rarely fought. In point of fact, those who knew them could swear that they hadn’t had so much as an argument for the entirety of the two years they’d been in New York.

That said, when Edwin walked through the front door in the early hours of the morning, not for the first time that week, with massive bags under his eyes and a terrible cough, Ana finally had to put her foot down.

“Surely you didn’t agree to 24-hour call, Edwin,” she began, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched him shuffle into the kitchen and put the kettle on, “It’s nearly two in the morning. What could possibly be so important that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow? Or, I suppose  _ today,  _ rather.”

“Mr. Stark’s cars were in desperate need of a shine,” he said around a yawn, picking up his reading glasses from the counter top, “I thought it best to get to it tonight, rather than to have another early call.”

“There is, of course, a third option,” Ana pointed out.

“Which is?”

“You could demand proper conditions. He likes you well enough; Stark will agree to it,” she insisted, “You are running yourself ragged.”

He poured himself a piping cup from the kettle before doing the same for her, “An if I do that and he decides to give me the sack?”

“Then we’ll find you another job. And I can find a tailor to go to work for. There are options.”

“Those aren’t options, Ana. Those are worst case scenarios.”

“Edwin, you are Mr. Stark’s employee,  _ not  _ his slave. You are entitled to go home in the evenings...to have dinner with your wife and sleep in your own bed. You have paid back in spades everything that he has done for us,” Ana insisted, her arms crossed over her chest as she helped him out of his jacket.

He let out a breath, his lips pursed as he folded his jacket over the back of his chair and slumped onto the couch, “I could never repay him for what he’s done for us, Ana. I’m indebted-”

“You’re  _ exhausted,  _ Edwin...and you are so stressed you’re losing weight _ , _ ” she reasoned, taking a seat alongside him and tracing a finger down the contour of his jaw, “You are going to work yourself to death. You need to take a break. Let’s take a trip.”

“I don’t travel.”

“You traveled while you were in the service.”

“And how well that turned out for me,” he said, peering at her over the top of his spectacles, “I don’t need a break, darling. I  _ enjoy  _ my work-”

_ Sneeze. _

Wide eyed, Ana sat back, taking him in from a distance, “Edwin Jarvis, you are  _ ill, _ ” she snapped, folding her sleeve back and pressing the back of her hand to his forehead, “You’re burning up. Do  _ not  _ try to argue with me. I am  _ not  _ going to take  _ no  _ for an answer. We are going to the hospital.”

It took some convincing to get him into the car. He had argued quite adamantly when she insisted that she drive and he recline back in the passenger seat. She was glad, though, when they were finally on their way because he took a steep decline as soon as they’d pulled out onto the main road.

He’d insisted he was  _ fine,  _ even as his eyes began to lull and his face grew ashen. Words slurred together in a way Ana couldn’t recall ever having heard before.

“You’re alright,” she mused, fingers of one hand running through his hair intermittently as she forced her eyes to remain on the road, “Just keep your eyes open. Talk to me.”

Through a gasping breath that sounded as though it required far too much effort, he finally conceded to her, “I don’t believe I’m...feeling too well, Darling. I think it may be best to s-see a doctor.”

“We  _ are, _ ” she said, her heart in her throat as she pushed the pedal to the floor, “We’re almost there.”

He’d all but completely faded by the time she’d wheeled into the emergency bay at Bellevue. And as she flung open the passenger-side door and pulled him to his feet, the first person to meet them was a burly security guard. “Madam, you can’t be parked in the ambulance bay-”

Ana was within a second of a harsh retort when a slender young man in a lab coat pushed past, “Bring that over,” he demanded of the guard, pointing to an abandoned wheelchair that rested against the side of the building. He helped to shoulder Edwin’s weight as he and Ana worked in tandem to get him to the chair, “And for  _ God’s sake,  _ don’t harass the woman. Take her keys and park the car.”

The security did as he was told and Ana rushed after the young man pushing the wheelchair, “He seemed well enough at home,” she called over the doctor’s shoulder, “He has been sick for about a week. I didn’t think anything of it, but he had a fever and...he was confused in the car just now...” Nurses seemed to materialize from all corners, one taking control of the wheelchair as the doctor stopped Ana just in front of the double doors, “What are you-”

“You can’t go back,” he said in an even tone, his features placid, “You’ll need to go to the front and fill out some paperwork. I’ll update you once we’ve finished running some preliminary tests, Missus-”

“ _ Jarvis.  _ Ana Jarvis.”

He nodded, offering her some semblance of a smile before pushing his glasses further up his nose and scanning his badge to enter the emergency ward, “Very good. Now, you listen. He will be fine. I’m sure it isn’t anything serious. By the looks of him...it could just be a bad flu. I’ll send someone to come find you when there’s news.”

Though it felt like hours that she’d been sitting in the waiting room, her hands wrung together, every time she looked up at the clock, no more than five minutes had passed. When it had been almost an hour exactly a nurse that she recognized, but whose name she had not managed to catch, appeared in the entryway. She’d been the one who’d taken the wheelchair back, “Mrs. Jarvis.”

Ana shot to her feet so fast she saw spots, but rushed to the woman regardless, “Is there news?”

“There’s nothing yet. It’ll take some time for the chest scans to come back,  _ but  _ he’s awake, coherent. And he’s asking for you, if you’d like to go back.”

She nodded, her lips pursed as she followed the nurse back. An elevator brought them several floors up and she was guided down a long hallway,  _ nearly  _ to the end when the nurse pushed open a door and held it wide for Ana to enter.

There he sat on the hospital bed, connected to several drips and machines, looking paler than usual, but otherwise, entirely nonplussed. That morning’s New York Times rested across his lap. At the sight of it she couldn’t help but let out a squeak of laughter. It was so entirely  _ normal,  _ so entirely opposite of what she’d assumed she’d find waiting for her.

Her chuckle had drawn his attention, and the crossword he’d been working fell into his lap along with the other pages, “Ana, darling,” he smiled tiredly, holding out a hand for her as she rushed at him, “I  _ am  _ sorry for the scare. I hadn’t realized-”

“No, none of that,” she shook her head, coming to rest on the edge of the bed, “How are you feeling?”

He let out a huff and with a shrug of his shoulders replied, “Right as rain. I should be able to leave so soon, in fact, that I won’t even be late for work.”

“You  _ can’t  _ be serious,” she glowered, “You are  _ not  _ going to  _ work  _ today. You...you  _ fainted  _ in the car. I thought you were  _ dying... _ ”

“But I clearly wasn’t,” he countered, “In fact, the nurse said that my only  _ real  _ ailment was dehydration. And seeing as they’ve been...pumping me full of fluids for the last hour, I’d say we have that well at hand.”

“Actually, Mr. Jarvis,” the nurse who had been filling out his chart said, peering over top of her glasses, “I said that one of your  _ symptoms  _ was dehydration. We’ll still need to wait for the tests to come back to-”

“ _ Madam- _ ”

“Thank you,” Ana cut him off, giving the nurse a smile before turning pointedly back to her husband, “If it’s Stark you’re worried about, I’ll take care of him myself if he’s got anything to say about this.”

“But if I feel fine, Ana-”

“You’re lucky this happened at home; you know that?” she countered, frustration bubbling over. Why couldn’t he take  _ one  _ day? “What if you’d been someplace else? What if you dropped unconscious while you were...cleaning Stark’s pool? You could have drowned. There would have been  _ no one around  _ to...” She shook her head, doing her best to compose herself, “You are  _ not  _ going to kill yourself working for that man. I’m not going to let you.”

He was, admittedly, stunned silent by that. The only sounds for several moments were those of the nurse, finishing up with the clipboard and scurrying from the room. Ana was positively seething, filled to overflowing with more emotion than one person could muster. She was relieved that he  _ seemed  _ fine, but still sickeningly worried about the diagnosis that was yet to come. On top of everything else, she was angry. It was like talking to a brick wall, trying to convince her husband to put himself first for once. He was stubborn as a mule in only one regard, and that was his unwavering allegiance to the Stark household. She wanted to make him see reason, but she knew she wasn’t going to – not in the state that either of them were in at that exact moment.

So she took herself out of the equation. Just for a moment, to get her head on straight, she reasoned.

“You didn’t get a chance to finish your tea this morning,” Ana said quietly, easing herself off the edge of the bed, “I’m going to go check to see if the cafeteria has some.”

“ _ Ana. _ ”

She shook her head, turning swiftly so that he wouldn’t be able to make out the overwhelmed tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, “I think I saw it on the way up; it’s nearby. I won’t be long.”

And Ana had been right. The quick trip to the cafeteria  _ had  _ helped to clear her head of the clutter. The concern, the anxieties were still there, but the anger had subsided quite a bit. With one steaming cup in hand, she made her way back down the hall toward the elevators.

“ _ Mrs. Jarvis, _ ” a familiar voice called from behind, causing her to turn in surprise, nearly dropping the tea in her hand, “ _ Sorry.  _ Sorry about that.”

“You  _ scared  _ me, Doctor...” she gasped, a small laugh following as she righted herself.

“Stein.” he corrected, extending his hand to her in greeting, “We didn’t have the opportunity for niceties before. I’m Dr. Stein. I took the lead on your husband’s case. Sorry about the big guy out front. He can take his job a  _ little  _ too seriously sometimes.”

“That’s alright,” she chuckled, recalling the security brute who had snapped at her over the car, “Just doing his job, I’m sure.”

“Of course. We have news, by the way,” the doctor said, his lips pursed into a tight line.

She nodded, a relieved smile plastered on her face as she pushed past, “Perhaps you should tell us both once I’ve brought my husband his-”

A hand darted out then, the doctor stopping her in her tracks, “Mrs. Jarvis, you should come with me.”

The tone in his voice brought bile to her throat, her feet carrying her after him before her brain could catch up. As he pushed open the door to a side room, ushering for her to go in, she froze in the doorway, “I...I thought you had things in hand _ , _ ” Ana whispered, her hands shaking so violently that the tea in her hand clattered to the floor, “ _ You _ said it was a  _ flu _ -”

“Mrs. Jarvis, if you could just step inside, then we could discuss-”

“ _ No! _ ” she exclaimed, her eyes wide with tears as she shook her head wildly, “No, you doctors only take the family into one of your little rooms if...if the worst has happened.”

He gave her a pitying chuckle, dropping his clipboard to his side, “I can assure you, Ana, that is  _ not  _ the sort of conversation we need to have. Please.” Motioning into the room, he swung the door wide with one hand, the other digging into his lab coat and pulling out a face mask, “You should probably put that on while we’re at it.”

Stunned silent, she followed Stein in, sitting across from him and wringing the mask between her hands, “ _ Well? _ ”

With a tired sigh, the doctor leaned forward onto his elbows, hands clasped in front, “Mrs. Jarvis, you were very smart to have brought your husband in to us when you did, or things could have been much worse.”

“So...he  _ is  _ fine?”

“He has tuberculosis,” the doctor countered quickly, ripping off the band-aid.

The word tore the air from her lungs and she lurched forward, sure she was going to be sick, “ _ Tuberculosis?  _ The plague...but  _ how- _ ”

“There’s really no telling,” he conceded, leaning forward to lay a hand over hers, “But there are things we can do. It’s treatable…tuberculosis isn’t the death sentence that it was twenty years ago. My primary concern now is you, Mrs. Jarvis. We’ll need to do a skin test immediately. It’s possible that you may have contracted it as well. Now...we won’t have your results for a couple of days, so we’ll need to admit you. Though...just in case you haven’t been infected, you’ll need to wear that mask and a set of gloves when you  _ do  _ visit your husband.”

Ana nodded, relief flooding through her body though immense anxiety continued, “And, ah, how long will we have to stay?”

“You? Two days at most if you don’t have the contagion. Mr. Jarvis on the other hand, will likely need to stay for, at minimum, two weeks.”

“ _ Two weeks? _ ” she gasped out in disbelief.

“And then there will be several antibiotics that he will need to take through the end of the year.”

She let out a quiet quip, her eyes bleary with tears, “That’s nearly ten months, Dr. Stein.”

“Yes. It’s a very aggressive illness,” he said, “The recovery process will be a long one. But he  _ will  _ recover.”

Her exhaustion was evident on her face, “I would like to speak to my husband.”

“Of course.”

The walk back to the room felt like an eternity. Her imagination ran wild the whole way there. Though she’d seen him not twenty minutes prior and he had been in more or less good spirits, she couldn’t quite shake the image of him, sickly and hooked up to whirring machines, from her mind.

She pushed those images to the side as she knocked on the door, “Edwin...it’s just me,” she called, putting her mask into place and slipping into the room, “They were all out by the time I got to the cafe,” she said, realizing she had intended to return with a hot drink in hand, “I’ll go out shortly to see if I can’t find something for you across the street. I think I saw a little shop or...something.”

“No. No, no, that’s quite alright,” he chuckled, holding in a cough as he heaved himself into a sitting position once more, “You found a new...accessory, I see,” he remarked of her mask.

“Dr. Stein said it would be best for both of us if I wore it for the time being. Have they told you...”

“The nurse did, while you were out of the room. They gave my the first round of antibiotic and some more fluids, so...I’m feeling much better, actually.”

“I’m glad,” Ana murmured, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, her hand coming to rest over top of his, “It’s lucky we caught this at the right time.”

“I know.” He shook his head, letting out another chest-rumbling cough, “I promise I’ll work less,” he choked out as she held a straw to his lips, “I’m sorry.”

“Working too much did  _ not  _ bring on a bout of tuberculosis, Edwin,” she insisted, giving his hand a pat, “Nothing could have prevented this.”

“Perhaps not, but that doesn’t mean I should have become so utterly consumed...I’ve been neglecting the time that I should have been spending with  _ you _ and if this had been something  _ worse… _ I couldn’t even think of it.”

“It wasn’t something worse. That’s what matters.”

He took in a shuttering breath, his brow furrowed as he shook his head, “No...no, this could very well have been it and I hadn’t spent time with you in  _ days,  _ Ana. It took falling ill, but I...I will...be home. Everyday from now on. No matter what, by 6:30.”

“You don’t have to say that,” she said, though she had to admit, the thought of him there without fail was something that sounded lovely, “I don’t resent the dedication that you have for your work. That wouldn’t be fair.”

“Sherry at 7. Benny Goodman at 8. In bed by 9. No matter what Mr. Stark has on the docket, I will be sat in front of the radio with you, sherry in hand, by 7pm.”

She smiled weakly, her fingers linking with his own then, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Edwin Jarvis.”

“This one I can keep,” he assured her, nodding wildly, “I can and...and I will.”

“Don’t think that I won’t hold you to that."

"I would expect no less."


End file.
